Texas Student Adopts Haitian Baby He Found in Trash Can Covered with Ants

Young Texas student Jimmy Amisial visited his mother in Haiti in 2017 when he heard a baby crying. He was expecting a parent to soothe the child, but to his surprise, no parent was around. The baby's cries came from a bin where his parents had abandoned him.

He recalled that the people around him were reluctant to help, even though the baby was in distress and covered with ants. The baby had no clothes on and was crying. He still remembered the pain in the baby's eyes even to this day. So, he took the child home.

Amisial, who was 22 then, took the four-month-old baby from the trash bin and brought it to his mother, Elicie Jean, 66, who immediately cleaned the infant and fed him milk. They brought him to the doctor for medical attention, Mirror reports.

The instant dad

The police launched an investigation to track the child's parents, but their search was in vain. A hearing to decide what would happen to the baby ensued. According to Daily Beast, the young man could not sleep for days when the court asked him to raise the baby.

At the time, he was already behind with his university fees, and his family struggled to make ends meet. He still struggled financially, sharing that he recently stopped studying because he needed to provide for the family. He will resume his third year in college in September.

But Amisial knew how difficult it is not to have a dad as he grew up without one. He knew the boy would face instability and uncertainty if he refused to look after him. His gut feeling was telling him that this had happened for a reason, so he decided to take a leap of faith; and signed up for the boy's legal guardian.

The mom and son tandem named the little boy Emilio Angel Jeremiah and asked the judge if he could become the boy's legal guardian.

Emilio has spent the past few years living in Haiti with his mom while Amisial finished his studies at the Texas State University.

Now 27, Amisial split his time between America and Haiti to visit Emilio and formally adopt him.

Plans for Emilio

Four years later, Amisial said he loves Emilio as if he were his own. He wanted to adopt the boy formally, but the process of legally adopting Emilio in 2020 costs around $30,000, which he does not have. He hopes to raise the amount someday, Daily Mail says.

Emilio started school this year, and teachers praised him for being brilliant. His favorite subject is music, and he recently expressed his dreams of being a musician someday.